The former BBC Radio 1 DJ Dave Lee Travis has been arrested by Metropolitan police detectives investigating allegations of historical sexual offences.

Travis was held at his home in Bedfordshire on Thursday morning by detectives from Operation Yewtree, the investigation into allegations of sexual abuse by Jimmy Savile and others. He was later released on bail until January.

He is the fourth person to be arrested by the inquiry, after the former pop star Gary Glitter, whose real name is Paul Gadd, the comedian Freddie Starr, and the former BBC producer Wilfred De'Ath.

A neighbour, who lives next door to Travis in Leighton Buzzard, said he had visited the DJ's wife and was told he had been taken to Aylesbury police station after his arrest.

The Guardian has independently confirmed that Travis was the man arrested, after Scotland Yard said only that a man in his 60s from Bedfordshire had been held.

Publicists for Travis had not returned repeated requests for comment at the time of publication. Bauer Media, the owner of Magic Network North AM, the radio station where Travis now presents a Saturday morning show, said it had no comment to make.

Travis was a regular fixture on Radio 1 from its launch in 1967 until 1993, when he resigned from his weekend morning show on air, saying he did not agree with changes at the station. Over the years he presented various Radio 1 weekday and weekend shows, including the breakfast slot, and was also a regular Top of the Pops host in the 1970s and 1980s.

The Metropolitan police said in a statement: "Officers working on Operation Yewtree have this morning, Thursday 15 November, arrested a man in his 60s (Yewtree 4) in connection with the investigation.

"The man, from Bedfordshire, was arrested at 07.45am on suspicion of sexual offences and has been taken into police custody. The individual falls under the strand of the investigation we have termed 'others'. We are not prepared to discuss further."

The Met separately confirmed that 450 victims had made 200 allegations of sexual abuse since Operation Yewtree was formally launched on 19 October.

The Met said it was in the process of contacting all of the victims. A team of 30 detectives and staff are working on the inquiry.

On Thursday the children's charity NSPCC said it had received 236 calls relating to Savile – an average of five a day – since the first sexual abuse allegations were made at the beginning of October.

It said it had received 550 phone calls and emails from people reporting other incidents of sexual abuse in the past month, an increase of nearly 200% on the average month.

Peter Watt, director of the NSPCC helpline, said: "It's crucial that people continue to come forward, whether they have information about Savile or anyone else. Our prime focus has to be on protecting children, particularly those unable to speak out themselves, and bringing offenders to justice.

"Sometimes people wait months or years before reporting abuse but we would urge them to act quickly so they can get help as soon as possible.

"While the whole Savile episode has been distressing it has also led to more victims of abuse seeking support, which is positive."

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